Giannis scores 29 in 22 minutes as Bucks thrash Knicks; balanced Pacers beat Grizzlies; Oubre's late triples save Suns against Hornets
Tuesday 3 December 2019 06:46, UK
Joel Embiid contributed 16 points and 11 rebounds while Ben Simmons had 14 points, nine assists and eight rebounds as the Philadelphia 76ers extended their league-best home record to 10-0 with a 103-94 win over the Utah Jazz on Monday night.
Tobias Harris scored 26 points and grabbed nine rebounds and Al Horford added 17 points to lift the host Philadelphia 76ers past the Utah Jazz 103-94.
Joel Embiid contributed 16 points and 11 rebounds while Ben Simmons had 14 points, nine assists, eight rebounds and four steals for the Sixers, who improved to a league-best 10-0 at home. The Sixers won their fourth game in a row.
The Jazz whittled down a 26-point deficit to close within 101-94 in the final minute before Embiid sank two free throws with 41.3 seconds left.
Rudy Gobert paced the Jazz with a season-high 27 points to go along with 12 rebounds while Donovan Mitchell added 18 points. Joe Ingles had 13 points, eight assists and eight rebounds. The Jazz lost four of five on their season-long road trip.
The Sixers took advantage of a 16-0 run to take a commanding 52-27 lead with 4:41 remaining in the first half. James Ennis III hit a three-pointer from the corner for the 25-point lead, forcing Jazz head coach Quin Snyder to call timeout.
Utah went 1-for-9 from beyond the three-point arc while the Sixers were 11-of-19 on their way to a 60-42 lead heading into the locker room. The Sixers kept the pressure on and went ahead 73-50 on a dunk by Harris with 6:35 left in the third.
Giannis Antetokounmpo posted 29 points and 15 rebounds in 22 minutes as the host Milwaukee Bucks easily extended their winning streak to 12 games with a wire-to-wire 132-88 rout of the New York Knicks.
Antetokounmpo recorded his 20th double-double in 21 games, getting his latest one in 15 minutes into the first half when the Bucks asserted their will. He shot 10-of-14 from the floor, hit three three-pointers and did not play for the final 16:54, spending the entire fourth quarter cheering on his team-mates, including his brother Thanasis.
The Bucks scored the game's first seven points and led by double-digits for the final 38:48. They held an 18-point lead after the opening quarter, led 72-45 at half-time, built a 100-62 lead through three quarters and posted their most lopsided win of the season.
Milwaukee improved to an NBA-best 18-3 and won a 12th straight game for the first time since 1982. The Bucks matched the fifth-longest winning streak in team history.
DJ Wilson added a career-high 19 points and Khris Middleton finished with 16 points as Milwaukee shot 55.8 per cent and hit 16 three-pointers Thirteen different players scored for the Bucks, who beat the Knicks for the ninth time in the last 10 meetings.
George Hill contributed 14, Donte DiVincenzo had 11 and Thanasis Antetokounmpo finished with a career-high 10.
Seven Pacers players scored in double figures and Domantas Sabonis flirted with a triple-double as the visiting Indiana Pacers defeated the Memphis Grizzlies 117-104.
Scoring distribution keyed Indiana on an efficient offensive night. The Pacers shot 50 per cent from the floor, and 16-of-38 (42.1 per cent) from behind the three-point arc.
Central to the outstanding night from long range, reserves Justin Holiday and Aaron Holiday had 15 and 11 points, respectively. They combined to make eight of Indiana's three-pointers.
Indiana's balanced scoring approach flowed through excellent ball movement, with 31 of the team's 44 made field goals coming off assists. Malcolm Brogdon, who scored a team-high 19 points, also led the squad with nine assists. Sabonis' eight assists put him two short of a triple-double. He registered 18 points and 14 rebounds.
Indiana completed the season sweep of Memphis in their second meeting over an eight-day span. The Pacers' 126-114 win in Indiana on November 25 was overshadowed when Grizzlies rookie standout guard Ja Morant crashed into a photographer and briefly came out of the game. Morant played in the two Memphis games following the trip to Indiana but missed his second consecutive appearance on Monday.
Grizzlies center Jaren Jackson Jr led all scorers with 31 points, marking his first 30-plus-point effort of the season. Dillon Brooks, who led Memphis to a Sunday win at Minnesota with 26 points, scored 19 on Monday but fouled out with 5:23 remaining.
Kelly Oubre Jr hit two three-point baskets in the final minute to rescue the Phoenix Suns, who blew a big lead and then recovered to defeat the host Charlotte Hornets 109-104.
Charlotte, who overcame a 20-point half-time hole, were up 104-97 before the Suns made a furious rally by scoring the game's final 12 points in the last minute.
After Oubre's second trey in a row gave Phoenix a 105-104 lead at the 19.8-second mark, the Hornets failed to convert again on offense. Suns guard Ricky Rubio made two free throws, and then Charlotte's Devonte' Graham missed on a potential tying three-point attempt. Devin Booker sealed it with two more free throws.
Oubre finished with 23 points, missing the first seven of his three-point attempts before hitting twice from long range in the last minute. Booker also had 23 points, while Dario Saric posted 16 points and 10 rebounds and Frank Kaminsky and Mikal Bridges both had 12 points.
Marvin Williams scored 22 points off the bench for Charlotte. The Hornets received 15 points and 13 assists from Graham. Terry Rozier had 13 points while PJ Washington and Cody Zeller both finished with 11 points.
Consecutive three-pointers from Williams and Rozier propelled the Hornets to a 96-92 edge with less than five minutes remaining. They didn't score in the final 1:45.
Lauri Markkanen stalled a Sacramento flurry with four free throws and Zach LaVine buried a rally-killing three-pointer with 1:15 remaining as the visiting Chicago Bulls held off the Kings 113-106.
In ending a three-game losing streak, the Bulls led by as many as 19 points and were still up 92-79 with 9:01 remaining before Sacramento, much as it had done Saturday in a dramatic win over Denver, came on strong.
A short jumper by Harrison Barnes got the Kings within 100-98 with still 3:18 to play before Markkanen hit his first pair of foul shots. Then, after Buddy Hield had once again made it a two-point game, Markkanen drained another pair of free throws, followed by LaVine's three-pointer for a 107-100 edge with 1:15 left. Sacramento never got closer than four after that.
LaVine had a game-high 28 points and Markkanen 20 to pace the Bulls, who lost at Golden State and Portland to begin a three-game western swing.
Hield totalled a team-high 26 points for the Kings, who used a late 17-3 run to cap a comeback from a 17-point deficit to force overtime and eventually beat the Nuggets in their previous game.
Atlanta point guard Trae Young scored 24 points and helped the Hawks break their 10-game losing streak with a 104-79 win over the visiting Golden State Warriors.
Young reached the 20-point mark for the 18th time this season and extended his streak of making at least 10 field goals to six games. He was 10-for-19 from the floor with seven assists.
It was the largest margin of victory for Atlanta his season, easily besting the previous high of 17 points against Detroit on October 24. The Hawks gave up 79 fewer points than they allowed in their last game, a 158-111 loss to the Houston Rockets on Saturday.
Rookie De'Andre Hunter scored 18 points but left the game with five minutes remaining and went to the locker room with a hand injury. The Hawks also got a career-high 16 points and eight rebounds from Damian Jones.
Golden State got 24 points from Eric Paschall, who has scored in double figures in 11 straight games, the most by a Warrior rookie since Klay Thompson went 14 straight in 2012. Paschall added nine rebounds and six assists. The Warriors also got 15 points from Alec Burks and 10 each from Ky Bowman and Omari Spellman.
The Warriors did not use Draymond Green, who is on a minutes restriction because of a right heel injury. Green played 23 minutes in Sunday's loss at Orlando and coach Steve Kerr opted to sit the veteran on the second leg of a back-to-back.
